the Nemean lion it perhaps arose from a phallus on a grave which by chance became associated with Heracles

(See Greek Hero Cults p.’357) Farnell was probably appropriate since the so-called “Finger of Attis” is interpreted bymany as phallus as well (see E.R.E., S.V. “Hand”). http://nudistsplace.com/first-time-nudist-stories/i-used-to-get-naked-and-play-naked-man/ believed the middle finger of either hand hada phallic connotation. Early Roman authors mention that the middle finger fully extended and held verticalrepresented the Member and the closed fingers and thumb on each side signified the testicles.Scott. Phallic Worship, p. 108). For more about Heracles and the phallic symbolism see: J. C. P. Deanna, “DuDivin au Grotesque,” Revue d’Ethnographie er des Traditions poppulaires 7 (1926): 31; Alexandre Colson, A Study of the SocialOrigins of Greek Religion (Cambridge, 1912).

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Source of Nudity in Greek SportsInterval that scholars imputed the so called “heroic nudity” which instead suggests that nudity in Greek sports had something to do with heroes or warriors.The late 8th century is also when the start of the chain of statues of nude Greekkouroi appeared. All kouroi usually do not represent Apollo, since many have beendiscovered in graveyards where they must have functioned as tombstones representing human beings. Furthermore in archaic times kouroi were used for victors in8the games4Why was nudity in sports a unique Greek phenomenon, since the primitivehuman reply in using nudity for aggression, from which fit nudity wasdeveloped, was common in other cultures too?question, one should consider another aspect of Greek life, fairly unique inGreek lands, the hero cult,49 which was connected with games.’O Greek heroesand gods proudly displayed their physical energy and needed the same thingfrom their devotees. The presence of Heracles at Olympia was of primeimportance for the survival of the custom of nudity in Greek sport becausehe was, by tradition, a bare hero and a naked warrior-athlete par excellencewhose nudity was mimicked by the sportsmen.If nudity was viewed as valuable to the warrior-athlete, why was it retained onlyin athletics since classical warriors needed protection and assertiveness at least asmuch as sportsmen? The Greeks while winning their way to classical civilizationKept the custom of nudity in athletics but they were not conscious of theCompetitive aspect of it as were their remote ancestors. To put real nudist family pics , the customof nudity persisted into a higher civilization but the practice of endeavouring tosecure protection in this manner had been lost or left. This was the chiefRationale the ancient warrior had no comprehension of this feeling ofprotection. This is also the instance with a number of current tribes among whom theCustom of nudity for aggression predominated but is rapidly disappearing as theygradually come under the impact of modern culture. The Classical Greeksfelt so strongly about their nudity that they considered that to be ashamed to be seenNude in the gymnasium was the characteristic, the proof and the signal of abarbarian. The reason the Greeks fell in love with their nudity is not thepurpose of this paper. That endeavor has been well done by other writers. 5148. Also see Bonfante, (Efruscan, pp.20, 28) who writes that the Etruscan equivalent of a Greek kouros wears a perizoma.century, as the period of the change from the warrior-sportsman nudity to athletic nudity, should be regarded withsome reservations because the scanty material signs may be misleading. Moreover, one cannot exclude therole of artistic convention in the stuff evidence cited here.49. Herodotos (2.50) mentioned that heroes have no position in the religion of Egypt. Also see Peter Kahane,“The Cesnola Krater from Kourion in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: An Iconological Study in GreekGeometric Art,” in The Archaeology of Cyprus: Recent Developments, ed. Noel Robertson (Park Ridge, N.J.:Noyes Press, 1975). 185. For a thorough investigation of the hero cult in both prehistoric and historical Greece seeErwin Rohde. Soul: The Cult of Souls and Belief in Immortality Among the Greeks (London. 1950), pp. 115-155;Farnell, Greek Hero Cults.141-173.50. See Rohde, Psyche, pp. 116-l 17; Mircea Eliade. A History of Religious Thoughts from the Stone Age to theEIeusinian Mysteries (Chicago, 1978), pp. 285, 313. For references found throughout early Greek literature,concerning the games held in honour of the Greek heroes find: Lynn E. Roller, “Funeral Games in Greek Art,” AJA85 (1981): 107.119.51. Fardiner (AAW, p. 58) wrote: “It is not only that exposure to the atmosphere and the sunlight-tub are. as doctors now